


tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes

by rubberglue



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-17
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-12 03:18:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/806582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubberglue/pseuds/rubberglue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>This is the moment Hal. What you do now is going to change everything.</i> And in that moment, everything changes. Hal and Leo and their little barber shop in Southend-on-Sea. How it all began.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jontinf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jontinf/gifts).



> Written for my darling Fariha for her birthday.

The train rattles along the tracks, the uneven movement jostling the people inside, causing them to sway and bump into each other. With as much dignity as can be afforded in such a hellhole, Hal reaches out a hand to steady himself, inwardly shuddering at the slightly sticky surface his hand comes into contact with and holding himself stiffly upright. Every brush of another person against him makes him cringe and he wonders, not for the first time that night, what he thinks he is doing. All these years should have taught him that he can run, cross oceans and seas, but he cannot hide from the curse he brought upon himself. What makes him think this time is any different?

Unthinkingly, his eyes slides to the quiet, stoic man beside him. An amused smile plays on his lips, as if mocking him.

“I am not used to such modes of transportation,” he says coolly. He does not say how travelling with the unwashed masses is beneath him but he knows his companion can read his unspoken thoughts. The smile widens slightly but pity takes up residence in his companion’s eyes. It irks him. He does not want the pity of this man. 

His companion peers through the dusty cracked window. “Soon. We will arrive soon.”

The uncomfortable ride finally comes to an end and he stumbles out of the carriage, his fingers curled tightly around the handle of his bag, once pristine and shiny, now scuffed and damaged by the terrible journey. 

His companion has nothing. Nothing but hope. Sometimes he wishes he could trade all his riches for hope. 

He looks around at the empty street in front of him and the rows of nondescript town houses. A few birds fly overhead. They are nowhere.

“This is it,” his companion says, “This is our beginning.”

Hal nods. Perhaps from here, they will be able to go somewhere. 

+

“A barber. Your business idea is to be a barber,” Hal repeats incredulously. Being a barber was so plebian. 

“It is a skill I have. Unless you have skills aside from kidnapping, torture and killing?”

Hal looks away and stares out at the rundown park. “We’ll need to find somewhere to live. You may think sleeping on park benches is fine but I will not stoop that low.” Leo doesn’t answer so Hal turns to look at him. In his hands, he’s holding a box. “Where did you get that?”

“At that shop we stopped at. It’s for you.”

Hal makes no move to take it. It is his experience that gifts always come with a price. Often a price much too steep. “What is it?”

Gently, Leo sets the box on his lap. “Open it.”

He doesn’t know why his fingers are trembling but they do as he slowly opens the box. “Dominoes.”

“That’s good. You know what they are.”

“I don’t play dominoes.”

Leo just smiles. “It’s a lovely day. The smell of freedom is in the air. Let us stay a while longer.”

+

They spend the first week in a dingy bed and breakfast. The first night, Leo takes out the dominoes and tells him to line them up. 

Control and distraction, says Leo. That is what will save you.

Despite his misgivings, Hal does it. Slowly, painstakingly he puts up each and every domino.

“How do you feel?” Leo asks when he is done.

“That I just wasted my time.”

“Now put them away.”

He raises his hand to knock the dominoes down but Leo grabs his arm. 

“No. Put them away piece by piece.”

“This is ridiculous. Does it please you to make a fool out of me?”

“Hal -”

“You are just an animal,” Hal grits out before stalking out of the room. 

His fingers grip the cool metal railing and he swallows. Doubt assails him once more. For years he’d tried to escape. For years he’d failed. It had always been easier to give in.

He hears footsteps behind him but he refuses to turn around. “This was a mistake.”

“Yes,” agrees Leo. “You said you wanted me to believe you could be saved. I do. But if you don’t believe you can be saved, then this whole thing is a mistake.” 

There are footsteps again and the door closes behind him.

An hour later, he returns to the room and slowly, painstakingly dismantles the dominoes piece by piece.

+

Leo plays nothing but jazz in the room. Hal places one domino carefully on the glass table. 

“Can’t we listen to something else? Perhaps some opera. Or something from Guys and Dolls.”

Lifting his eyes from the newspaper, Leo merely replies. “This music feeds my soul.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t have a soul.”

“Then maybe the music will bring yours back.”

Hal fingers the domino in his hand before placing it on the table, exactly half an inch from the previous domino.

+

They have spent a week in Southend-on-Sea. Hal hates it. He also loves it. It’s as far from his previous existence as possible. The urge to feed pulses in him but Leo is there. Leo and his dominos. Control and distraction.

“Why do you stay?” It’s a question that plagues him every day. It isn’t easy for Leo, devising activities for him to ensure he is kept too busy to act on his urges. And it cannot be easy for Leo to look at the man who kidnapped him and forced him to kill.

“If I go, what will you do?” Leo flips the newspaper.

“What I usually do I expect.” He arranges the sachets of sugar neatly in the mini bar.

“Kill?”

“Probably.”

“Then I am here to keep the world safe from you.”

Hal grimaces. “And keep me safe from the world.”

+

By the second week, the relationship between them falls into a pattern. In the mornings, they scour the ads for prospective places and for the rest of the day, as the soft sounds of jazz floats in the air, Hal practises control and distraction. 

And they talk. Sometimes, distracted by the activities Leo arranges for him, Hal finds himself talking about dreams and ideals, things he thought he long abandoned before. Other times, Leo comments on the news and asks Hal for his opinion. 

The ad is small, tucked in a corner of the newspaper but Hal is thorough and he does not miss it. 

_Barber wanted. Accommodation negotiable._

It is a strong building with sharp corners in a quiet part of town. A barber shop on the ground floor and presumably accommodation above. 

“I will handle the negotiations,” says Hal. “A child could fleece you. You haven’t been lying about your barber skills, have you?”

Leo simply says he likes the place.

Hal rings the bell. Behind the door, he hears someone calling out and running to the door. The door opens and in front of him stands a young lady, dressed in a fashionable pink dress, her hair coiffed like most women of the day.

After weeks of enforced isolation, the proximity of human flesh sends the urge pounding through his veins. He stumbles back and starts to count backwards from a hundred.

“Hello,” she says, smiling brightly. A blush stains her cheeks when Leo takes her hand and kisses it. “You must be here about the ad.”

“Yes. I am Leo and this is my -” Leo pauses and glances at Hal.

Hal waits, a sudden tension coiling in his stomach. They have never had to define their relationship before.

“ - this is my friend, Hal.”

Her smile widens. “I’m Pearl.”


End file.
